As a business owner, chances are you’ve heard of the Cloud by now – it’s also likely you’ve at least dabbled in applying it to your own operations. The technology is developing quickly and changing the way we carry out our day-to-day duties at an equally rapid pace. Because so many companies are realising its potential and are adopting it for their own purposes, the Cloud is big business in itself – and huge investments are being made by companies like Canopy to utilise its potential. As a result, analysts are already looking ahead to see how the platform will develop over the following months and years, and how this will impact upon the way firms manage their IT. Here are a few ideas of trends that could be on the horizon.

The hybrid Cloud

A combination of public and private Cloud platforms, the hybrid Cloud is expected to become hugely popular for companies looking to optimise the performance of their business process. The hybrid can be used to support internal applications and infrastructure, and many experts are predicting the strengths of both the public and private Cloud will soon be commonly utilised by organisations looking to achieve high levels of efficiency and security.

Mobile optimisation

In accordance with the huge rise in popularity of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, the Cloud is expected to become even more accommodating for those who want to be able to access it while on-the-go. This should make it significantly more attractive to businesses that would like to adopt a flexible or remote working approach – the benefits of which include reducing costs and improving employee wellbeing.

Security matters

One of the main barriers that is stopping many companies from adopting the Cloud is the concern over possible security risks they are exposing themselves to. A lot of this is down to perception rather than actual fact, so expect much attention to be paid towards raising awareness on this front, while a focus will also be placed on developing security techniques and applications to further put consumers’ minds at ease. Encryption methods and protocols are all likely to become more advanced, so this issue is no longer stopping business owners from investing in the Cloud.

Design emphasis

Design is becoming an increasingly-important element in convincing businesses to adopt Cloud technology and optimising the experience is something developers are expected to work closely on as this trend continues. As different industries take their first steps into what is effectively the unknown for them, a simple, streamlined structure to the Cloud will be required. This will ensure their initial encounters are user-friendly and meet their expectations, based on the presumption they will have already have heard much about the platform’s capabilities.

Encouraging investment

One of the reasons why the Cloud has become so widely adopted is because of its ability to save a business money. This increased efficiency is allowing them to optimise the investments they do make and encouraging them to spend more on the IT sector as a whole. It is expected this trend will continue to develop as more firms realise the potential the Cloud offers.